In a message dated 05/05/2007 21:51:43 GMT Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: My fifth great grandmother was Jane Pearson. She married Archibald Gillespy in Holm Cultram, Cumberland 07 June 1750. Although they were married in the Church of England, Archibald was a Quaker from a Quaker family. The Quaker records give Jane's birth as 28 Nov.1726. I found a christening in Staindrop 29 Nov 1726 in Staindrop, parents John and Elizabeth. Jane and William gave these names to two of their 11 children, but they are common names. The Gillespys were millers and the children were born at Lineholm Mill in Cumberland. They were raised as Quakers although at least two married in the C. of E. Is there any way I can pursue Jane's parentage? Is it likely that she could be born in Durham and marry in Cumberland? Comments and suggestions would be most welcome. Regards, Virginia Virginia: Durham County Record Office have quite a lot of Quaker records, as there was a definite "Quaker district" centred around the Tees valley, and extending as far as Staindrop. Of the various types of "Meeting" the Quakers held, it is the records of their "Monthly Meetings" that would be of most use to you as that is where they recorded births, marriages and deaths. You could also look in local reference libraries for a book by ----- Foster, in which he records full details of many inter-related Quaker families from throughout the north of England. Many of them were among the more wealthy of Quakers, but "ordinary" families are there as well. I know Newcastle Library have it, though it seems there to be in many parts, one for each Quaker surname. It was not unusual for Quaker families, or individual members of such families, to accept the wrath of their relatives and re-join the C of E. Such events would result in an "adult baptism", possibly of several persons at once, in the local parish church, so don't write off the parish register altogether. Also don't forget that the refusal of Quakers to support the C of E by paying either church rates or tithes would have earned them a place in the church records! Have a look through the "parish chest" material for any parish that interests you - Staindrop is one of the very few Co Durham parishes for which there is quite a lot of it (in Durham County Record Office, see their on-line catalogue) and you might find notes of their refusals, or even of them being proceeded against in court because of them. Geoff Nicholson